Ben Askren has spent 15 years building wrestling academies across Wisconsin, and his near-death experience last year only sharpened his conviction about what the sport does for young people. Speaking with Chris Williamson on his podcast, Askren made the case for wrestling.
He said, “I think there is no greater impact on a child’s life than wrestling.”
For Askren, the sport is not simply about competition. It is a compressed version of real life.
“Wrestling is a microcosm of life,” he said. “If you’re going to lead any type of meaningful life, it’s not going to be sunshine and rainbows the entire time.”
The mat, in his view, is where children learn that truth early and on their own terms. The qualities he points to are specific. Humility comes first, because the sport forces it.
“You’re never going to be the best one in the room. And if you’re the best one in that room, you’re going to go find another room that you’re not the best in.”
Unlike team sports where a weaker player can sit on the bench and observe, wrestling puts every gap in skill on full display.
“You’re not the best. Now you’re going to get your face rubbed in the mat by someone who’s better than you, and they’re going to force you to be humble.”
Self-reliance follows closely behind.
“It’s only you out there. There’s no one else to save you. There’s no team, there’s no nothing else.”
That isolation, which might seem harsh for a child, is precisely what Askren values. Hard work, discipline, and perseverance round out the list.
“You’re inevitably going to get knocked down and have times of hardship and adversity,” he said, treating those moments not as failures but as the core curriculum.
He also drew a sharp distinction between the culture around wrestling academies and mixed martial arts gyms. Parents who bring their children to wrestling, he observed, tend to come in with grounded expectations.
“I want my kid to learn how to wrestle. I want them to learn some discipline and some hard work and get a little tougher.”
That mindset, he argued, shapes the entire experience differently from parents chasing fame through combat sports.
On talent, Askren is a skeptic, and his reasoning connects directly to child development. He described two seven-year-olds arriving at a wrestling academy with no prior training. One has spent his time on the couch; the other has been active, hiking, climbing, playing with older brothers, eating well.
“These are two seven-year-olds. Neither have ever wrestled, but they are worlds apart right now from jump.”
His point is that what looks like natural ability is often just accumulated early experience.
After coming within hours of losing his life and spending over 70 days in hospital, coaching those children has become the thing he most wants to do with his working time.
“The very favorite part is actually coaching the athletes,” he said. “You’re helping the next generation of young person not only get better at wrestling, but get better at life.”
For Askren, wrestling is not a sport children do. It is the single greatest developmental activity available to them, one that teaches everything life will eventually demand.
